Total Commander is the best file manager for Windows, its capabilities, installation and configuration of plugins. Total Commander - what is this program and how to use it? Full analysis, links for free download

The Total Commander file manager has truly outstanding functionality that most of its fans are not even aware of - usually only basic file operations and document viewing options are used. And in this article I have compiled the Top 5 not the most famous, but very useful functions of Total Commander that I use every day.

CTRL+B. This key combination allows you to show all the files in a given folder and subdirectories without this very folder structure, that is, “all in one heap.” For example, you need to see which file is the oldest or largest (to delete them to clean up the disk), and also perform a batch rename. Otherwise, you would have to do this for each folder separately. Pressing CTRL+B again (or the disk button) returns to the normal view. Moreover, if you managed to move the cursor to the desired file, then pressing CTRL+B again will take you to the folder where it is located, and the file itself will remain in focus under the cursor.

Batch renaming. A powerful built-in function that allows you to rename tens or thousands (and sometimes tens of thousands) of files at once using a specific algorithm. For example, you need to substitute a serial number at the beginning, change the extension to another, cut off or add part of the name, remove the extension, substitute the date or time, change the case of characters from lowercase to uppercase and vice versa, etc. Moreover, before renaming, it is possible to sort , by date, size or title. You can not rename all the files in a directory, but only a few - then you need to select them first.

Folder size calculation. Allows you to calculate the size of folders by pressing Shift+Alt+Enter. It is very convenient to evaluate where the space on your hard drive has gone – the operation is performed in the root directory, or to find out which folder takes up the most space (for example, on a flash drive) and requires cleaning. The list output can be sorted by size (as well as files). The operation is similar to pressing the Spacebar on a directory, but applies to all folders at once.

Creating a copy of the file in the same directory, renaming without changing the extension. Everyone is familiar with the F5 (copy) and F6 (move) buttons, but few people know that pressing Shift+F5 allows you to copy a file to the same folder (changing the name), and pressing Shift+F6 allows you to rename the file without opening additional windows directly in the panel without affecting the file extension (it will not change).

Logging into exe archives and CD and DVD images (iso, img) as folders. This function allows you to enter different archives as directories and perform standard operations, including those listed above (for example, calculating the size of directories). In addition, by pressing CTRL+Page Down you can also enter self-extracting archives with the exe extension or CD and DVD images.

It is very useful. For example, to open an archived exe file without running it. If such an exe file was infected with a virus, then it will be possible to add or extract files from it without infection. It may also be necessary to extract one file from a CD or DVD image. Usually, to do this, you need to write the image file to a physical disk or mount it into the system (which only Windows 10 and later can do without installing additional programs).

Daily use of these functions will make working with files and documents much easier and save a lot of time. Let me remind you that although Total Commander is paid, the author does not prohibit the use of the demo version, which has full functionality and differs from the purchased version only in that it displays an additional window with a reminder at startup.

Total Commander is a program that makes working with your documents simple and convenient. When it loads, you will see a window divided into two fields. You can select the file you need that you want to open in any of the parts; then you need to click on the name of the desired drive at the top and a folder will open under it. Then click on the file line.

Working with files in Total Commander

If you want to copy a file, in one part of the window go through the process of opening the folder in which it is located, and in the other part - the folder into which you want to copy it. Next, use the left mouse button to drag this file from the first window to the second. Also you can apply button click F5(copying).

If you want to go through the process of selecting several files located in a row, hold down the key with the name Shift, simultaneously clicking on the line with the first file, and then on the last one. If the files are not located in a row, but scattered, you need to also hold down the keys Ctrl+a, click on each of them.

To rename a file, you need to use the left mouse button to click on it and at the bottom - the “rename” key or click the buttons together Ctrl+ F6. After this you need to enter a new one.

In order to view a file without opening it, you need to press the F3 key, and to delete a file, press the F8 key.

Navigation Total Commander

The navigation system of this program is easy and convenient. To go to the root of the disk, click the corresponding button in the upper area of the panel. Changing the position of the disk occurs by pressing buttons Alt+F1(left panel) and Alt+F2(right).

To go to a level higher on the first line “...” you need to click on Enter or double click.

In this program you can change existing interface settings, for which you need to go through Configuration to point Settings. For example, you can configure the context menu to be called using the right mouse button. Also there you can interface, window design, change button types, etc.

Thus, working with this program is very easy and simple. Using its features can speed up your interaction with .

In the list of file managers, Total Commander (hereinafter TC) is the most popular. And this is not surprising, because the program provides very convenient work with disks, folders and files and, in addition to providing standard features typical for this class of applications, has many interesting features that simplify work. In particular, it remembers frequently used directories, supports working with bookmarks, provides quick search (including inside files), allows you to configure hot keys, etc. In addition, the program provides support for popular archivers and has a built-in FTP client that allows you to download files in multiple streams, supports resuming and can work according to a schedule. And its capabilities can be expanded through plug-ins. This article will be devoted to getting to know the most interesting of them, but first we will briefly discuss the types of plugins and the nuances of their installation.

What are the plugins and how to install them

There are four types of TC plugins: archiver plugins (have the WCX extension), file system plugins (WFX), internal viewer plugins (WLX) and content plugins (WDX). Archiving plugins are used to work with archives that are not initially supported in the file manager or are supported with restrictions. In addition, with the help of archiving plugins, support for working with a number of other file formats is implemented - CHM, MSI, ICL, DLL, etc. File system plugins are available in TC via network(Fig. 1) and provide access to disks, remote systems, internal Windows modules, media with other file systems. Internal viewer plugins allow you to view file formats not supported by Lister's internal viewer - images, tables, databases, etc. Content plugins are designed to provide access to extended file information - MP3 tags, EXIF header information in JPEG images, etc.

Rice. 1. TC window with Network Neighborhood open in the left panel

Today, there are already hundreds of plugins for TC, and it is impossible to even simply list them within the framework of the article, and it does not make much sense, since many plugins, if they do not duplicate each other, then have very similar purposes. We will focus only on those solutions that may be of interest to a wide range of users.

The most popular and well-proven plugins, along with their brief descriptions, are presented on the official website of the program (http://www.ghisler.com/addons.htm), as well as on the Russian-language website “All about Total Commander” (http://wincmd .ru/). New plugins are available from the unofficial TC website (http://www.totalcmd.net/).

You can install plugins automatically or manually. Automatic installation does not cause any difficulties: just open the downloaded archive with the plugin in the file manager and the program itself will offer to install the detected module (Fig. 2). However, such automatic installation is not provided for all plugins.

Rice. 2. TC window prompting you to install the plugin

Connecting additional modules manually is done in the settings window called up by the command Configuration -> Settings, where in the section Plugins You should click on the button with the desired plugin type and specify the location of the module to be installed. For archiving plugins additionally in the list Files with the extension you will need to specify the extension of those files that should be associated with the plugin being installed (Fig. 3). If there are several similar extensions, then the operation of specifying a module with a plugin is performed several times, each time entering a different extension.

Rice. 3. Installing the archiver plugin through the Settings window

Comfortable viewing

The file manager's built-in viewer (Lister) allows you to view a fairly limited list of file formats by pressing the F3 key. The situation can be easily corrected by installing the appropriate plugins.

After connecting the plugin IEView(http://wincmd.ru/plugring/ieview.html) it will be possible to view files in a variety of formats. This plugin uses the same file viewing engine as Internet Explorer and is perfect for viewing hypertext documents (including documents in MHT and CHM formats). In addition, it allows you to view documents of other formats through the software installed on your computer - PDF documents (if you have Acrobat Reader installed - Fig. 4), Word/Excel documents, PowerPoint presentations (if you have the MS Office package), etc. You can also configure viewing files in DjVu format by installing Browser Plugin and uncommenting in the section file ieview.ini the corresponding line. Viewing AutoCAD documents is configured in the same way (an appropriate viewer is required - for example, VoloView), etc.

Rice. 4. View PDF Document Using IEView

The IEView plugin can also be used to view Shockwave Flash files. However, it is more convenient to use specialized plugins for this purpose - for example SWF Lister 2.0(http://wincmd.ru/plugring/swf_lister.html; Fig. 5), since there is a playback scroll bar.

Rice. 5. View a SWF file using SWF Lister

Using this plugin in the file manager, it will be possible to create and unpack archives in 7z format, as well as view their contents. To use the plugin, for example, to package files, you need to select them, press the key combination Alt+F5, in the window that opens, select the 7z option in the list of archiver extensions and, if necessary, adjust the archiving settings by clicking on the button Settings(Fig. 9).

Rice. 9. Creating a 7z archive using 7Zip Plugin

Working with CD/DVDs and images

If you want to make working with CD/DVD discs more comfortable and reliable, then you should get a virtual compact drive by installing a plugin Virtual Disk(http://wincmd.ru/plugring/virtdisk.html). It will be possible to mount images of CD/DVD discs into such a drive much faster than inserting them into a real drive, and without any harm to the discs themselves, which often become unreadable due to active use. This plugin allows you to emulate a virtual compact drive and connect images to it (in ISO format, as well as some BIN and NRG images) made from unprotected CDs. In addition, it can be used to emulate a local hard disk or floppy disk.

For the plugin to work, in addition to its installation in automatic mode, you need to install the virtual disk driver by calling the command in Windows Explorer from the context menu on the file Program Files\totalcmd\plugins\wfx\VirtualDisk\VD_Driver\vd_filedisk.inf Install. And then restart your computer.

The principle of mounting images into the virtual drive created after installing the module is very simple: copy it to the folder in the file manager VirtualDisk(this folder will appear in Network environment after installing the plugin) the necessary file images, and then to mount one of them on a virtual drive, double-click on this image, select the mode CD/DVD and click on the button To plug(Fig. 10). You can also enable the checkbox Restore on reboot, which makes sense if you have to work with the mounted image regularly. After this, the desired virtual drive with the connected image will appear in the disk rollout in TC and in the Windows Explorer window.

Rice. 10. Mounting the image into the VirtualDisk virtual drive

There is another option - install a plugin ISO(http://wincmd.ru/plugring/iso.html). With its help, you can read images in ISO, BIN, IMG and NRG formats without mounting them into a virtual drive. This will allow, for example, to quickly view files from the image (Fig. 11) and copy all or part of them to the hard drive for further work.

Rice. 11. View image contents via ISO plugin

Data Cataloging

It’s not easy to navigate among the folders and files stored on a variety of disks, because most users have dozens, or even hundreds, of CDs alone, and even more pictures, documents, audio recordings. Therefore, today you cannot do without using some kind of cataloguer that would provide the ability to quickly find out where the desired disk or file is located. If there is relatively little data to be cataloged, then it is quite possible to make do with the capabilities of specialized TC plugins.

Greetings, dear readers.

I want to show and tell you what a total commander is. Any user has at least heard the name of this program, but not everyone works in it. This is especially true for beginners who do not have time to get used to the program in a day and rashly abandon this idea, but in vain...

Why is it needed, what are its capabilities, why has it attracted users around the world for decades? You will get answers to these and other questions in my article.

Introduction to the program and its history

What kind of program is there so much talk about?

This is a two-panel file manager, that is, it is designed for various manipulations with folders and their contents (opening, renaming, playing, deleting, etc.). What is "two-panel"? This means that the program window is divided into two parts in which you can work simultaneously.

Total's predecessor was Norton Commander, tailored for operating systems. Then it was not even a separate program, but an interface through which the user could work on the computer.

Then Windows appeared with its own windows and the need for a two-panel manager seemed to disappear, but not for experienced users who appreciated the convenience of Norton.

Thus, in 1993, the first version of the TS itself was released, although at that time it was called Windows Commander. The product received its current name only in 2002, based on the patent requirements of Microsoft Corporation.

By the way, the program works not only on the Windows platform. In 2011, the world saw a version for mobile devices on the Android operating system.

Comparison with Windows Explorer

To explain it in simple words, Commander is an analogue of Windows Explorer, only much more convenient and functional. With it you can copy, unzip, move and do much more very quickly. You might think that doing these things in the usual ways won't take that long either. But saving a few seconds on each operation will allow you to end up with extra free minutes.

Let me give you one of the simplest examples for comparison. To copy an object using the usual method, you must:

highlight it
right click,
select the appropriate item from the menu,
go to another folder,
right-click on it;
insert file.

Scheme of actions in Total Commander:

On the left side of the program, select the directory where the copied object will be placed;
Find it on the right side of Explorer;
Drag to the desired folder using the mouse or highlight it, press F5, and then Enter.

And this is just the tip of the Iceberg :).

Total Commander functionality

I won’t list all the manager’s capabilities, because there are a lot of them. But so you understand what we’re talking about, here’s a short list:

Plugins

Despite the fact that Total Commander itself has a huge number of functions, some computer gurus find them not enough. Therefore, the program allows the installation of plugins that further expand its capabilities. There are also a lot of them, so I won’t list the names, but will divide them into categories:

Archiving. I think it's clear why they are needed.
System. They provide access to those directories that cannot be reached by conventional means. We are talking mainly about file systems, as well as remote web servers, browser cache, clipboard, etc.
For internal viewer. Show special file types in the built-in viewer or quick access toolbar. For example, they can display objects in graphic formats, play audio and video files, show source code and other information, etc.
Informational. With their help, you can find out all the ins and outs about files, rename them, split them into tags and get information about their contents.
Quick search plugins. They change the encoding and algorithms of the built-in quick search to improve it.

I believe that this information is sufficient to familiarize yourself with the program.

I hope, having learned its capabilities, you will not be lazy to download it. In other articles I will definitely teach you how to use Total Commander. So don't forget to stay tuned to my blog for updates.

Total Commander is a simple file manager at first glance, which has so many useful functions and capabilities that both beginners and advanced users will definitely find something they need. Let's look at some of the most popular and simple ones.

First of all, the good thing about Total Commander is that it makes it very easy to work with files and folders. When you launch the program, you will see a window that is divided into two parts. In each part you can select the required file.

To do this, click on the name of the desired disk in the panel at the top of the window. This will open a list of all folders and files that are on the disk.

All you have to do is open the folder with the required file or click on the file name if it is located in the root of the disk. (Fig. 1)

Total Commander allows you to perform basic actions with files with just one click: copy, move, rename, delete. For example, you need to copy a file from one folder to another. Open the folder in which this file is located on the left side of the window, and on the right - the folder into which this file needs to be copied. Next, simply drag the file with the left button from one part of the window to another. Alternatively, you can use the F5 hotkey. (Fig. 2)

Moving files is done in a similar way, but instead of the F5 button, F6 is used. If you're dragging manually, hold down the Shift key while dragging. (Fig. 3)

If you need to select several files in a row to perform operations on them, hold down the Shift key and click on the name of the first and last file. In this case, all files in the list between them will be selected. (Fig. 4)

If the files are not nearby, click on them while holding the Ctrl key. (Fig. 5)

It often becomes necessary to change the file extension if you saved it in the wrong format, or if your computer does not support some formats. Slowly double-click the left button or press Shift+F6. Now you can change the extension or rename the file. (Fig. 6)

With Total Commander you can quickly view files without opening them. To do this, use the F3 key. The F8 key is used to delete files.

Navigation in the program is very convenient. Let’s say that to go directly to the root of the disk, you should press the “\” button. To go up one level, use the ".." button or double-click on the first line "[..]". For convenience, you can sort folders and files by various parameters: name, size, date or type.

To make it easier to work in the program, I recommend studying the settings. Select the menu item Configuration / Settings. A window like this will open. (Fig. 7)

If you're just starting out with Total Commander, proceed with caution and only change basic settings. For example, you can make the file's context menu invoked by right-clicking. To do this, in the left part of the Settings window, select Basic Operations. In the window that opens, select the Left button switch (as is customary in Windows) in the Mouse selection item. After this, you can rename, delete, copy files, and select a program to view by just right-clicking, as in the Windows environment. (Fig. 8)

Also, using the settings, you can change the interface language, window design, column contents, appearance of disk and partition buttons, display of hidden files, etc. As you can see, the program’s capabilities are quite wide, the main thing is to learn how to use them correctly.